Gary Numan Digest Sun, 10 Jan 93 Volume 1 : Issue 15 Today's Topics: Berserker CD comments Boys Like Me & This Wreckage: a quiery NAGNFC Fanzine: December 1992 New Subsciber - Jeff Johnson One from the Vault The Erland Rating System - an explanation. The New UKFC Video Compilation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 13:17:13 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: Berserker CD comments To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 19:53 PST Subject: Berserker From: Ken Stuart Hello, Received Berserker CD - thanks! The long jams are interesting - only had the LP before (PS I have an extra Berserker LP which I am willing to trade for ? - perhaps a tape of an 80's video live/concert?)... Also, I listened to Berserker recently, but on a boom box... the album is much better on a full stereo system (like Mike Oldfield or Kraftwerk). Definitely Gary's most underappreciated work... Thanks again! Ken ---- kstuart@waffle.sns.com (Ken Stuart) Systems'n'Software Free Public Access BBS --- (510)623-8652 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 13:11:40 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: Boys Like Me & This Wreckage: a quiery To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu >From rjc@devo.unify.com Sat Dec 26 11:13:41 1992 Date: Sat, 26 Dec 92 11:06 PST Subject: Boys Like Me & This Wreckage: a query Does anyone know what language Connie Filapello is speaking and what it is she is saying in the song "Boys Like Me"? Similarly, who knows what the Japanese phrase in "This Wreckage" means and how it's transliterated in English? -- Ronald Cole +----------------------+ internet: rjc@unify.com Software Engineer II | Lord/Genis '96 | uucp: uunet!unify!rjc Unify Corporation +----------------------+ voice: +1 916 928 6238 "THE BILL OF RIGHTS --- Void where prohibited by law" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 13:14:06 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: NAGNFC Fanzine: December 1992 To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu >From bhammond@zephyr.cair.du.edu Tue Dec 29 17:48:49 1992 Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 18:47:20 -0700 From: "BRIAN D. HAMMOND" Subject: NAGNFC Fanzine: December 1992 Just got my latest issue of the NAGNFC Fanzine for December 1992. There was only a few items of news that haven't been mentioned here already: -The video compilation long talked about is now out. It picks up where Newman Numan had left off. Track listings are: Warriors, Your Fascination, Berserker, Call Out the Dogs, Heart, This Is Love, New Thing From London Town, Emotion, I Can't Stop, My Dying Machine, and Machine and Soul. Fanzine claims Numan looks very Rutger Hauer like in the New Thing From London Town. This is a UK standard video only but there are reportedly plans to have it done for the US as well. Personally, this is great news as I have NEVER seen any of these videos and I'd particularly like to see those from The Fury album. I am also pleased to see the Warriors video on here as that song is under Beggar's Banquet copyrights so it's inclusion suggests things between Numan and BB is still cordial. The video compilation is called _Shadowman_. -Apparantly the UK fan club is offering many Numa records items for mass sale from the Emotion single to the present including the Machine And Soul 7" singles (Yikes! I didn't know these existed). -Finally, one can find ex-backing vox Tracy Ackerman on the latest Blancmage single called "One Day, One Time" Me! I Disconnect From You ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 13:09:19 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: New Subsciber - Jeff Johnson To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu >From jeffj@ultra.com Tue Dec 22 12:32:52 1992 Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 11:49:21 PST From: jeffj@ultra.com (Jeff Johnson) Subject: New Subscriber =>You have now been added to the Gary Numan mailing list. Please send an =>introduction message to the mailing-list. In this message, please let =>us know who you are, who some of your favorite artists are, how long =>you have listened to Gary Numan. Let us know if you play any =>instruments or anything else that might come to mind. Gee, all these questions. Where do I start??? Hi, I'm Jeff Johnson, and I've been a Numan fan since the "Telekon" album. Probably like many folks (at least in the US), "Cars" was the first Numan song that I heard, and I like it. Bought the album and liked that. Started buying all his albums. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, I've only seen him live once, and that was in Atlanta (at the Agora?) during the 1980 tour. Other favorite artists? A quick look at my collection shows a tremendous number of Pink Floyd albums, a bunch of Devo, and a few well-played Kraftwerk CDs (only because Kraftwerk doesn't seem to have too much out on CD). I also have a certain fondness for the Dead Kennedys, but that's a different matter altogether. Do I play any instruments? Naw. Does anything else come to mind? What mind? Actually, (and I realize that this might be in the archives) the past 4 Numan CDs I've bought (Machine & Soul, 2 Machine & Soul CD Singles, and Ghosts (both discs)) give my Sony D66 portable player fits, whereas my home players have no problem. I was curious if I was the only person with this problem. Other than that, I'm just happy I found the Numan list, and look forward to the exchange of information. /jeff -- Jeff Johnson | Ultra Network Technologies | voice: (408) 922-0100 x284 jeffj@ultra.com | 101 Daggett Drive | fax: (408) 433-9287 ...ames!ultra!jeffj | San Jose, CA 95134 | sex: (900) 976-4825 The difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 16:13:50 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: One from the Vault To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu While I was cleaning up my hard drive after years of neglect I came across this. It was tacked on to a reply to a request for info about the subscribers to the old newsletter. I have asked the Q several times since not realising I had the info hiding in my hard drive. It has been festering for 13 months. Thanks to Dave Carroll for sending it in the first place and my apologies to him for not noticing it. > GARY'S 12" SINGLES ON BEGGARS BANQUET - CLARIFICATION WANTED > ------------------------------------------------------------ > > Lastly, I would like to clarify the situation on the 12" versions of the > singles from 'I, Assassin' and "Warriors'. The cassette versions were longer > than the single edits, but were the 12" mixes different from the cassette > mixes? Were these the same as the vinyl? > > I know that for 'We take Mystery (to bed)', the 12" version was different, as > it is on the Asylum 'I, Assassin' disc with the cassette version (better IMO) > being on the 'Telekon/I, Assassin' UK CD release. But what about 'Music for > Chameleons', 'White Boys and Heroes', 'Warriors' and 'Sister Surprise' (which > was already over 8 mins on the album). Anyone? me! i know! here's a chart: song 12" time LP/CD time --------------------- -------- ---------- White Boys and Heroes 6:22 6:27 Music for Chameleons 6:57 6:08 Warriors 5:52 5:47 Sister Surprise 4:57 8:27 comments: the 12" times were obtained by myself using a stopwatch, since they were not given. with this in mind, i'd suspect that "WB&H" and "Warriors" are identical between 12" and LP/CD. they sound pretty much the same, too. the 12" of "MFC" has a distinct unique musical bridge that lasts about 45 seconds, which accounts for the added length of the 12" version. that's the only difference i detected. "Sister Surprise" is an interesting story. on the 12" it's listed as "Sister Surprise (Extended Version)", but note that it is about three and a half minutes SHORTER than the album version! i attribute this to the fact that the concept of alternate mixes was in its infancy in 1983, and any alternate 12" version of a song from an album was automatically considered "Extended", regardless of its length. well, that's my theory anyway. the differences between mixes are that the 12" version starts much sooner than the album cut, with only a very brief amount of sound buildup before the song kicks in; there's a little bit of saxophone from John Webb added right at the beginning; and the song ends cold just short of where the album version ends. it's sort of disturbing if you're used to the album version, like the tape running out or something (a la "Rhythm of the Evening"). you brought up the "cassette version" of songs. i know for a fact that the cassette and LP versions of these songs are the same for the "Warriors" album, but since i don't have the UK cassette version of the "I, Assassin" album, i don't know about that. (i *do* have the UK "Berserker" cassette and was very pleased to discover the extended versions of the various songs. you say the cassette of "The Fury" is similar? neat. i'll have to hunt it down!) conclusion: the 12" mixes of "Music For Chameleons" and "Sister Surprise" are unique and do not exist on compact disc. (but what about 7" versions? argh, that's something else to look into now.) thanks so much, derek, for doing this mailing list and providing the information it contains. i always look forward to a new one, with only a little less enthusiasm than i await the NUMA catalogue CD reissues! best wishes, -- dave -- /''' The Machman machman@milton.u.washington.edu david c carroll c-OO \ "one hand on the handle of the mad/sane door" - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 10:02:40 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: The Erland Rating System - an explanation. To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu I received a request from Ken Stuart to ask Al to explain the Erland rating system he used on his review of Ghost. Al, has dug it out and here are the relevent questions and answers. >From kstuart@waffle.sns.com Sun Dec 6 16:06:41 1992 Subject: obscure ratings From: Ken Stuart Hello, To Al Crawford -- I've always been too lazy to e-mail the appropriate place for the explanation for your arcane rating system - BUT if you are going to use them on a new mailing list, then it is entirely appropriate for you to post said explanation to said list. Cheers, Ken kstuart@waffle.sns.com (Ken Stuart) Systems'n'Software Free Public Access BBS --- (510)623-8652 From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford) Subject: Re: What is the Erland rating? Reply-To: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford) I've had a few pieces of mail about the rating system so it's time for an explanation. Those to whom I've mailed explanations previously might notice that this is different from the one I mailed them. This is to be expected, since the Erland Rating has a certain undefinable quality :-) The Erland rating system was first used in rec.music.misc a year or two ago. It was invented by Erland Sommarskog, hence the name. At the time, I thought it would be a good idea to try and arrive at some sort of ratings standard system, and Erland's system seemed as good as any, so I started using it. Needless to say, nobody else on the planet seems to use if anymore, not even Erland, and it's probably the least standard standard ever. Nonetheless... The Erland Rating is on a -5 to +5 scale. The bottom end is -5, the top end is +5. The scale *isn't* linear though. Nor is it exponential. It can be roughly summarised as... +5 - Probably the all-time greatest album in the history of the universe. +4 - truly an all-time classic, one to buy and cherish forever. +3 - a very good album indeed, and highly recommended. +2 - a good album but with limited appeal or an album that has wider appeal but is slightly less good. +1 - a good album. Pleasant to listen to and certainly worth a listen. +0 - competent but unoutstanding. It's not a *bad* record as such, it just isn't particularly *good* either -1 - an album you should have reservations about. It's not *really* bad, in fact you'll probably decide to keep it, but you probably won't play it that much. -2 - the sort of album which, unless you are completely fanatical about the artist concerned you probably shouldn't buy. -3 - the sort of album which, even if you are completely fanatical about the artist concerned you probably shouldn't buy. -4 - really a very bad album indeed. Connosieurs of really bad albums should buy this. -5 - An album so bad you are unlikely ever to hear its like again. Over the sum total of my reviewing I've dealt with about 75 releases. The lowest I've ever given is -2, the highest +3. The extremes of the scale will probably never be reached. My bias towards higher ratings I put down to the fact that I *buy* my albums with my own money rather than getting them as free promos, so I'm not likely to put out money on something I'm going to dislike. Actually, the stuff at the very bottom of the scale is probably worth keeping for the entertainment value. The same scale applies for singles, although I don't generally pay the same amount of attention to them - if I review an album, chances are I'll have listened to it at least 4 times and probably more than 10 times before writing a review, whereas I'll typically only listen to a single 4 times at most before posting a review. -- Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk "Breakdown. Splinter. A thousand fragments disperse and die." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 6 Jan 93 09:58:11 PST From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: The New UKFC Video Compilation To: numanews@cs.uwp.edu Video Compilation Details ------------------------- This mostly reiterates what Brian has passed on above. Seems like the NAGNFC has a UK contact too as the info supplied comes directly from a mailing sent out late last year. The track listing is: 1. Warriors 2. Your Fascination 3. Berserker 4. Call Out the Dogs 5. Heart 6. This Is Love 7. New Thing From London Town 8. Emotion 9. I Can't Stop 10.My Dying Machine 11.Machine and Soul At the moment it is available only through the Fan Club and only on PAL. Beryl is looking into the possiblility of making it available in NTSC. Pete said it is supposed to have a running time of 43.22 which seems short for 11 songs, some of which were rather long on the albums. The video is being sold for L12. I suspect it will not be worthwhile for Beryl to make NTSC copies available considering the cost of transfer and the likely very small order from the USA. If this is what happens I will suggest to Beryl that the transfer could be done at this end and if NUMA are willing we could make copies to distribute amongst the group in the USA. From previous conversation with Beryl this is not a professionally produced video. It is meant as a momento for FC members, so they may not be too worried about copyright etc. Am I correct in assuming that Australia uses PAL too? You will be able to get direct copies from Pete. I am waiting for word about NTSC copies. If they were available how many of you would wnat one? If they come from UKGNFC the cost should be not much different than the L12 + p & p. If we do it here it could be less but might not have the artwork, if there is any. So please just indicate if you would like a copy of the video even if it cost you perhaps $20 or so in order for me to assess demand. Thanks Derek ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Derek H. Langsford Dept. of Biology dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu San Diego State University ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************